Archive for the ‘Goal Setting’ Category
First of all I want to blow a myth – TIME MANAGEMENT
We cannot MANAGE time. We cannot MAKE time. We cannot SAVE time. The best that we can do, is manage what we do with the time that we have, to the best of our ability.
Now imagine that there are actually 25 hours in the day. We all would love more time. Do YOU really believe that with 7 extra hours a week, you would use that time to do new things?
Find the Time
Now consider giving up something that wastes time. Like smoking (in my humble opinion, as an ex-smoker). Aside from the other risks and reasons, if I smoke 20 cigarettes a day, and spend on average, a conservative 3 minutes to smoke a cigarette, that’s 60 minutes a day spent smoking. That’s exactly the 60 mins you would love extra in a day. Read the rest of this entry »
Since this is such a personal experience I thought I could share with you how I managed to break the barrier of my comfort zone today.
As a woman who takes regular exercise, I begin to feel restless if I have missed a few days. This is simply because my body is used to being dragged out onto the street and pushed for anything from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Having been on holidays in March for 3 weeks, I was travelling light and knew there would not be much opportunity to find appropriate times and places in order to exercise. I had my husband to consider also, and as we would be travelling for 3 weeks, it would be unfair to have to focus on running in a safe place for over an hour. I made the Executive decision to take 3 weeks off running, knowing that it would be replaced with healthy daily hiking (or tramping as it is known in New Zealand) and a healthy diet. Read the rest of this entry »
Imagine a world without stress. Imagine a world where no-one is demanding anything from you. Imagine you are the happiest you could possibly be. Can you imagine all that? I hope so, because if you cannot, that is a sure sign that you require some “ME” time.
If you can imagine all those things, then you are probably doing a lot of self-care already, as you appreciate the importance of looking after self. You appreciate and understand why it is imperative to look after your own safety on an aeroplane before your child, because if something were to happen to you first (like you do not get enough oxygen), then you are of no help to your child.
Now, just very quickly think of all the things that have been building up over the past year, and specifically those things that have spilled over into this year. Can you picture them? Has your mood changed? Is the weight of the world sharing its burden on you right now? It’s so easy to get caught up in the woes of the world, the media, our networks and indeed our own families. Is it over-burdening, over-whelming, too much to bear?
And my question to you is simply: Compared to what?
How do you know this is good for you? Are you coping with all the stress a new year can bring? On top of all the left over trauma of 2011?
Now, bear with me here and really think about the following. Write them down so you can check on them at the end of this post:
Think about the best thing that happened to you last year. Think about your greatest achievement of 2011. Think about your biggest learning for 2011. Think about the relationships you nurtured in 2011, new and old. Think about the single happiest thing that happened in 2011.
Now, pat yourself on the back, schedule some “Me” time for every day this year and plan for great things to happen, because then they will. If you write them down, and say them loudly to yourself, then you are setting the tone for your year to come.
And if you are overwhelmed just now, still reeling from the effects of 2011 and the holiday period, read this inspiring blogpost on starting your year in February, not January 
Happy New Year, and may 2012 bring you everything you plan for.
Hi there,
I just want to wish everyone a fantastic holiday and very best wishes for 2012, whatever you look forward to this year, make sure you write down at least ONE thing from your wish list, and really tell yourself you will achieve it this coming year!! Go on, it will work, I promise!
And my message to you… click here to see
To your best year yet!
Elaine
Welcome to my world…
To follow is a copy of an email I sent to my close network. So rather than bombard everyone in my network, I am producing the mail below for you to read, if interested
Hi there, happy weekend!
I haven’t been in touch in a while now and wanted to let you know how the Mini Marathons went, the fundraising and of course, what the hell I am doing now.
Firstly, I am delighted to report I am pain free, unlike this time last year when I was crippled, and had to give up running altogether. My waistline was not happy!
So after intense self care and chiropractic treatments in Spring, I was promised I would be doing the 3 things I love again – gardening, driving my motorbike and running. At first it was a struggle, and my health seemed to be deteriorating rather than improving, but finally after about 2 months, I suddenly began to feel huge improvements.
So much so that I was back running with a great new podcast programme, building my distance, stamina and endurance over 9 weeks, ready for the Cork and Limerick Mini Marathons. Not only did I finish both without killing myself, I improved on last year’s times with little effort. I felt great
I decided to dedicate my efforts for charity – Age Action this time. In light of the bad weather we had last year, I felt the elderly were in dire need of vital funds, and it would give me a greater focus for my training. And it worked! I completed both runs successfully, and am delighted with the progress on last year, which was so difficult I really believed I wouldn’t run again. Read the rest of this entry »
I am no stranger to health and fitness, having been a part of various therapies, classes and courses over the years, mostly as a preventative rather than a cure. Those of you who know me personally will attest to the fact I have NEVER dieted, but do not indulge in fast and overly processed foods, but like anyone else, have my “weak” areas.
Cork Mini Marathon bib 2010
I fought these weak areas for a long time, and there is something about turning 40 that helps us realise that health is so important, because without it, you do not have quality of life.
Now I allow myself my indulgences whenever I want them, and compensate by eating healthily otherwise, drinking lots of water and exercising on a regular basis. To be truthful, mostly my exercising consists of brisk long walks, and generally going to a class of some kind.
Last year, in beginning of 2010, I discovered running was a faster way to improve fitness and endurance, and of course kick me back into a state of racing heartbeat and pushing myself beyond my comfort zone. I wrote a post about it at the time about motivation, and decided to achieve my goals by training for both the Cork Women’s Mini Marathon AND the Limerick Women’s Mini Marathon. I followed a programme to the minute, and achieved my training goals for the first race. The second race was exactly a week later and unfortunately I did enough damage to my lower back that Read the rest of this entry »
W
hen I was in a 9-5 job in 1993, I distinctly remember arriving into work on Monday mornings and being subjected to complaints, grumbles, disdain, and other such negative gossip.
This was the only negative about my Monday mornings. In fact I never had Monday morning blues because I practiced a very simple alternative. Back then, in my early 20’s living and working in recession Ireland (yes, we had one then too) the general gist of good fun was to go out with colleagues and friends.
Traditionally this was done Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Three late nights of overindulgence was bound to take it’s toll, and it did. Coming from a college background, I had become accustomed to going out on “College nights” (aka Thursday nights). I maintained this routine and did not go out late on Sunday nights.
Of course this meant that Friday mornings were tough, but one cannot have Friday blues if they are off for the weekend, and have an early finish to look forward to. So I was therefore able to camouflage my blues into a Friday, rather than a Monday.
However, I feel the negative sentiment has remained with many people, whether they are employed, self-employed, or between jobs.
Why should we dread Monday Mornings? Because we have done so traditionally. For some of us, it’s simply always been that way (similar to finding it difficult to get up in the mornings).
Here are a couple of measures you can take to beat the Monday Morning Blues: Read the rest of this entry »
This blog post is dedicated to RW and written to invoke thought, not provide you with the skills and attributes needed to be an Entrepreneur. There are hundreds of articles out there to provide you with the “know-how”. I am exploring the “why-how”.
My life:
3 yrs ~ Montessori school, fun learning of the basics.
4 yrs ~ Primary School, initially fun to evolve into evening homework, mandatory sports, trips to the Headmaster’s office and mandatory conforming to the rules of the school.
12 yrs ~ Secondary School, more mandatory subjects, mandatory sports, mandatory extra-curricular activities, optional extra subjects (instead of playtime), mandatory career guidance (I won’t bore you with the obvious advice from a religious convent.)
17 yrs ~ Third Level, optional everything. Chaos!
20 yrs ~ Out on my ear. Get a job.
24 yrs ~ I opt out. Sound familiar?
Two decades of being inside numerous education systems. I finally came to the conclusion, the working life I had been groomed for, did not suit me. I may have also thought I did not suit this working life. My instincts told me that I would make money in my life, but not the way I was conditioned to. Where do I turn for guidance? When every person I knew was conditioning me to “get a job”.
24 yrs ~ Enter a boy Read the rest of this entry »
Planning an event can be tremendously stressful for some. I have had clients stress over Christamas to the point where complete sabotage and failure are guaranteed. So how can we plan for an event and ensure that we don’t miss anything important?
We can write a list – what to do, what to buy, when to do it. This list can be in the form of chronological importance or priority importance. So let’s back track a bit and assume you are already struggling with ideas and the basic plan, not to mind the where, when, why and how-to?
Very often, someone wants to plan a surprise or event for a friend or loved-one. This can prove an almost debilitating exercise for many; so what I want to to is look at ONE possibility that can help your life to be easier, less stressful and ultimately organised. This will ensure that you enjoy the event as much as the person or people you are organising it for.
Because we are now over the indulgence of Christmas, and have embarked on a journey of resolutions and lying low for January, we do need some indulgence to get some spark back. Read the rest of this entry »
We have just gained an hour over the weekend, so this may be your first day back to work after the ghouls and spooks of Hallowe’en last evenin
g. Have you wondered what to do with the clock going back an hour yesterday?
So what can you do with your extra hour?
